Symptoms
by Measured Kindness
Summary: Although, to be fair, Mikoto was confused about it the first time around.


... **. Or the time when our favourite oblivious Harem master is not the one missing the signs.**

 **/**

When the familiar cracking sound reached his ears, Touma anxiously shifted away from the grouchy Misaka as subtly as he could, rubbing the strange feeling of static off of his left arm. Said electro-master glared at the pebbles in front of her like the poor things were the bane of her existence.

Touma was relieved that glare wasn't directed at him anymore, though he would've preferred a little less static in the air.

If not for the threat of a railgun coming after his butt if he ran away (again) hanging over his head, the spiky-haired teen would've gladly stood up and left the fuming girl alone. Who wants static running all over their skin anyway? He's a person, damn it! Not a freaking conductor!

"I swear!" Mikoto huffed suddenly, startling Touma from mentally bemoaning his misfortune.

He glanced at his companion, Yep, still fuming, before raising his eyebrows as a reluctant cue for Misaka to continue voicing out her grievance. "Seriously, I bet she's doing that on purpose! That little exhibitionist! Who would want to look at her toned arms anyway?!"

"Ah," Touma acknowledged tentatively, not really understanding the point of Mikoto's tirade. "So... uh... how does that affect you?"

Mikoto looked at him like he was the biggest idiot to ever exist. "It's _very_ distracting!" She said, pulling at her chestnut-coloured hair in transparent frustration.

"Well, maybe she liked the, uh, freedom her weather inappropriate clothes gives her..." Touma shrugged helplessly, unable to neither a good reply nor a good reason to excuse himself. He really should be back and cooking Index's dinner. The eccentric nun was probably throwing a tantrum because of her black hole of a stomach. She's never satisfied with a small portion, too

He grimaced, thinking about his poor, nearly empty wallet.

"No!" Mikoto shook her head firmly. "I'm pretty sure she does that all the time, plus she only ever wear those stupid tank tops when inside the dorm! I bet she wants to show off her creamy, soft skin to everyone inside!" Mikoto stood up, fist clenching in obvious agitation while sparks danced around her whole body and every immediate thing around her. That includes a very uncomfortable boy, namely, him.

"Maybe she wants someone to notice her?" Touma supplied, right hand raised to shield himself from being fried to a crisp.

"What?" Mikoto yelled, glaring at him again. "What are you even-" Her eyes widened for reasons unknown to the poor (both literally and figuratively) teen. "Do you really think she's-Oh gods!" Mikoto turned on her heels, running away at full speed.

"Where are you going?!" Touma puzzledly yelled after her, throwing his school bag over his shoulder, preparing to head home as well.

"Dorms!" Mikoto shouted back. She said something else, but she was so far already that all Touma could hear were "crazy" and "Kuroko".

He tilted his head, amused. Somehow those words together didn't seem all that strange to hear.

 **/**

"You idiot!" was all Touma heard before a barrage of electricity came towards him.

He raised his hand, blocking the attack almost instincively. He furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed Mikoto's sharp glare, not even dulled by the pinkish shade of her cheeks, wondering what the hell did he do to rile the level five up again.

"I followed your stupid advise and guess what that did!" Mikoto narrowed her eyes, still livid.

"What advice?" He squawked, taking a step back. "And what does that have to do with treating me like a walking punching bag."

"You totally deserved that." Mikoto said with a satisfied smirk before abruptly frowning.

"No I do not-" Touma sighed, shoulders sagging. He realized there's no point in arguing with a stubborn kid. "I'm gonna regret this, but... Why exactly does my advice warranted your unlimited lightning works?"

At his placating words, Mikoto seemed to have calmed down a tiny bit. "You said maybe the reason why Kuroko wears a piece of fabric she calls a tank top was because she wants someone in the dorm to notice her, right?" Touma nodded slowly, unsure where Misaka was taking this. "Well, I asked if she could stop showing off-"

"I still don't get why I got the lightning round because of that though-Ow! What on earth?!" He growled, rubbing the slightly burned patch of skin on his left arm.

"Shut up, I'm getting there!" Mikoto snarled. Touma took a deep, deep breath, reminding himself that she should never hit a girl upside in the head for not world-ending reasons.

"Go ahead then." He murmured through gritted teeth. _Patience, Kamijou, patience._

"Right, so after I said that, Kuroko looked at me and laughed. Oh that little b-"

"Okay!" Touma abruptly cut off, waving his hands uselessly. "Maybe let's cut the sparks and colourful words there, Biri-biri." Then, with a strained smile, he added, "What is the point of you saying that, exactly?"

Mikoto looked at him and shrugged. "I don't like her displaying skin outside our room." Mikoto answered casually, then her eyes widened at the implication of her words. "N-not that I want to be the only one she shows her skin to! It's just... It's indecent, you know! S-She should know better!" She supplied lmost... defensively.

 _Yep, definitely defensive._ Touma thought with a quiet smile to himself. He had seen these familiar scenario before. _Hm... Oh!_ He shook his head amusedly. How could he have missed it the second time? Although...To be fair, Mikoto was confused about it the first time around. Now Touma's not even surprised she was being violent this time too.

"I see." He said, smirking.

"Yeah." Mikoto said, significantly calmer than before.

"Is that it?" Touma queried, smiling now that the fear of being attacked by a walking powerplant was not immanent anymore.

"Yeah..." To his surprise, Mikoto smiled back, letting out a satisfied sigh. And then, somewhat sheepishly, she said, "See you around, I guess.." Mikoto shrugged one shoulder before turning around and walking away without so much as a wave.

"That girl is so dense." He said, looking at her retreating back, completely unaware of the irony of his words.

 **/**

"That pervert is insufferable!" Mikoto growled, flopping down beside an unsuspecting Touma, who unceremoniously dropped his precious crepe because of the sudden spark that had just pricked his skin.

It didn't hurt his skin as much as it did his wallet. _That was a 2400 yen crepe_. He stared at the wasted food miserably, wondering, for the nth time in his teenage life, what horrible things his past self did to deserve this kind of perpetual punishment.

"Such misfortune." He murmured under his breath, supporting his head with his hands, elbows resting on his knees.

"Some guy approached her and asked for directions, you see, and he's being so close to her. And after that, he chatted with her. I thought, Kuroko would dismiss him but she didn't, you know. She's being amicable and everything! So I was pissed because she was ignoring me in favour of that ugly goon! And-" Misaka paused irritably, now only noticing the pathetic state of the boy beside her. "Hey are you even listening?!" She yelled, punching him in the shoulder angrily. Touma didn't even budge.

"2400 yen... gone... just like that..." He said, sighing dejectedly. Mikoto sighed loudly. "My crepe..."

"Oh gods! Stop moping and listen." She said sharply. "I'll buy you a new one later."

Those words had his attention in an instant. Touma looked at her, blinking hopefully. "You mean that?" He asked.

The smaller girl waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, sure." She took a deep breath. "So, Kuroko-"

Touma, relieved that his money wasn't wasted, perked up and tried to recall Mikoto's litany about her roommate. Partly because he felt bad for ignoring the younger girl and partly because of the promise of food.

Realizing that shallow reason, he sighed. Just how low had he stooped for food?

"Are you done wallowing about your stupid crepe?" Misaka asked, eyes twitching with ire. Touma loudly cleared his throat and nodded.

"What happened after that?" He asked, managing to actually sound interested for once, easing into the bench.

"You can't imagine what that girl did! I punched a freak to save her... uh, virtue and she repays me by being cheeky and saying I was _jealous!_ Hah! She wished!" Mikoto huffed. "She is so ungrateful."

 _Well you sound pretty jealous to me.._. He thought, but he wasn't up for an electrical burn today so out loud he asked, "Does that mean you're done complaining about her skin-showing tendencies?" He grinned to himself, going for a light tease. "Since you're _not_ jealous."

He looked down, watching as a group of ants work their way around the bits of wasted crepe on the ground idly, waiting for Mikoto's reply. Might as well indulge the level five, right? Not like he could hide from Mikoto, also not like he has anything better to do anyway, so...

"Did you know Kuroko's eyes are the dumbest shade of brown?" Mikoto asked, seemingly out of the blue, laughing a bit. "It's like her genes were drunk and just said 'Oh let's be brown but let's try being kinda pink'. And they're always so bright and peppy and shining when she smiles." Her gaze grew fond and distant after that last comment before they became sharp with a scowl. "That shade should be illegal." She said with full conviction.

Touma nearly face-palmed at the rapid switch of expressions on her face. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"I kid you not!" Mikoto replied, actually sounding offended and clearly gearing up for another long rant slash soliloquy about her roommate. "I bet her eyes were enchanted too!"

"Really now?" Touma asked in monotone, but Mikoto was either oblivious or uncaring about the tone of his voice.

"It's like, for the past couple of weeks, every time she looks at me with those warm eyes of hers, everything becomes white noise. Like they just suck me in and all I can see is her. Every. Damn. time! Argh! What _is_ wrong with her?!" Touma knew Mikoto was waiting for his response, but he didn't even want to grace that sentence with a decent answer at this point, so the girl grudgingly continued. "There's something seriously wrong with her-"

"You." Touma finished up with her, sighing.

"With me?" Mikoto asked indignantly. "No way! This is all Kuroko. Nothing's wrong with me, why would there be?" She shook her head, narrowing her eyes at the ground. "She just needs to..."

"What?" Touma asked, daring the electro-master to continue.

"Stop looking at me." Mikoto finished lamely, blushing ever so slightly.

Touma sighed, remaining quiet and hoping that the silence will jolt Mikoto's brain cells into working.

"I'm telling you her eyes are _so_ weird-" Mikoto started again and Touma nearly fell off his seat.

Was there not a limit to how dense a person can be? Did it somehow didn't apply to ESPers?

"You know, I realized you kept talking about Shirai a lot lately..." Touma voiced out tentatively, side-eyeing Mikoto, who was now staring at him like he grew two heads. "I mean, have you ever thought about what that meant, exactly?"

"It means she's supremely annoying and perverted." Mikoto grouched, crossing her arms.

"That's it? Are you sure?" Mikoto narrowed her eyes, staring at the side of his face. He turned, now fully facing the younger girl with a thoughtful frown on his face. "You never gushed about her eyes or the color of her skin before. You certainly didn't rant about it in front of me until a few weeks ago."

"Oh, yeah." Mikoto's face was frustratingly blank. "What does that mean?"

"I... think you like her." He lowered his voice to a murmur.

Mikoto opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of the water, face almost comically red. "H-Hell no!"

"But why are you being bothered by what she wears? Why are you so concerned about who she talks to? Why are you so distracted by her eyes, of all things?" Touma smiled, ruffling Mikoto's hair playfully. "For a genius, you can be incredibly ignorant."

She swatted his hand, brows furrowed. "I became concerned about who you're talking to in the past, too!" Mikoto snapped, glaring at him.

"Yeah, and you ended up realizing that you liked me shortly afterwards." Touma smiled, shrugging.

"Psh." Mikoto snorted, almost as if the notion was now ridiculous to even _think_ of. Which was... okay, maybe a bit rude, but whatever floats her electric boat. "That was months ago! But... uh," The indignity of her reply was all but gone when her realization came abruptly.

Touma grinned widely. "There you go, that wasn't hard now, was it?"

"Holy crap! I like her." Mikoto's eyes widened, looking like she had seen a ghost.

"No shit, Sherlock." Touma said sarcastically. Mikoto ignored him in favour of pacing.

"I like Kuroko." She muttered to herself as Touma watched the third strongest ESPer in Academy City have a panic attack over liking someone. "Oh gods!"

"Yep." The boy said, sounding far too amused. Mikoto abruptly stopped pacing, looking at Touma with a blank gaze.

"I'm screwed, aren't I?" She asked, sagging down the bench, eyeing the growing army of ants helplessly.

"Yes, yes you are."

Mikoto frowned at him, punching his arm lightly. "Argh! I hate you."

"Yeah." Touma chuckled, patting her shoulders good-naturedly. "You're welcome."

 **/**

 **"** That pervert kissed me! Again!" Mikoto blurted out right after dropping herself unto the bench. "The greedy idiot said she wants to be my wife someday."

By now Touma was used to this, so he merely held his right hand towards Mikoto's general direction and continued drinking his soda. No use in scooting far, lightning can cover whatever distance he made in less than a nano second flat.

"You should stop calling your 'future wife' a pervert then."

"That... will take a while. She's still an exhibitionist."

"You call your girlfriend an exhibitionist?"

"What else could I call her when she continues to wear those distracting choice of wardrobe before bed?" Mikoto pursed her lips, cheeks dusting red. "I swear she just do that to throw off guard so she can sneak on my bed."

Touma's eyes glazed over, looking borderline traumatized. "What an enviable problem to have..." He sighed.

Mikoto stared at him, hard and unwavering, then an malicious grin split her face. Touma felt the static in the air picked up a notch. "Heh~? Low key bragging about the bombshells you are currently living with, Kamijou-san? You mocking me having only one? Is that what that sarcasm was about, hm? " Sparks danced menacingly on the fringes of her hair.

"T-thats not..." Touma broke in a cold sweat, waving his arms about. Just when he's about to turn tail and run, Mikoto's gaze faltered, letting out a giggle that had turned into a full blown laugh not too long after. Touma sat, confused and slightly worried.

"Relax! I'm kidding, man!" Mikoto bumped their shoulders lightly. "I don't care about that." Her grin turned sober suddenly. "Thank you though, for y'know.. setting me straight... Well, not really straight _straight..._ But, whatever." Touma raised his eyebrows, clearly entertained by her flawless vocabulary. A-Anyway," She smiled-and it was, by far, the softest smile he had seen her give him-before looking up the sky. "You're not as idiotic as I thought you were."

"Heh." Touma grinned. "I'll take that as a complement."

Mikoto scoffed. "Oh, you better."

* * *

 **That felt great! After a year and a half, my muse is back! And what better way to prove it than writing a silly brOTP fic?! Woops! What about this? Was it worth the read? Let me know by the reviews! They're always appreciated! Au revoir!**


End file.
